GODFREY — “It’s more than just dropping off meals, it’s about the social interaction,” said Meals on Wheels delivery driver Chris Montgomery during an annual event to raise awareness about the program Tuesday.

Public officials — mayors, fire chiefs, trustees — join drivers like Montgomery once a year to help deliver frozen meals to seniors. The elderly people who receive the meals have a chance to meet their local leaders, and media coverage spreads the word about the services provided by the program.

But this year, the event took on a different tone as Alton Mayor Brant Walker, Godfrey Mayor Mike McCormick and Godfrey Fire Protection District Chief Erik Kambarian made deliveries to local seniors.

State leaders’ failure to pass a budget means the program is going unfunded. Senior Services Plus, the agency that organizes the program locally, cut the number of clients in the program by half — from 600 to 300 — since April of last year. There are 140 people on the waiting list. Instead of one hot meal a day, Meals on Wheels clients now receive five frozen meals once a week plus a few cartons of milk, juice and pre-packaged fruit.

Low-income and at-risk seniors in six Metro East counties rely on Meals on Wheels for 33 percent of their daily nutrition, according to Senior Services. The cost of a meal in the program comes to about $8, though the state only reimburses each meal with $3.92.

Derwood Dasser, 91, is one of the program’s clients. He retired from Jefferson Smurfit, the packaging company, 36 years ago. Today, he lives with his daughter, who has a disability that keeps her in a wheelchair. He says they’re “doing pretty good,” but he politely hinted at the reduction in meals.

“There are those who like to take things away from people,” Dasser said softly from the living room of his Godfrey home.

The Godfrey mayor and fire chief were there to deliver the meals to Dasser, but it was driver Montgomery he was happy to see.

“You’re important if you deliver the meals!” Dasser said with a laugh.

Montgomery laughed and assured Dasser he would be back next week. The driver says the relationships he builds with his clients is an important part of his job.

“You can tell they don’t get a lot of visitors,” he said. “We may be the only people they see during the week.”

In Godfrey, where much of the population is over 65, Meals on Wheels provides a public safety service, the fire chief said. Fall-related calls are the most common type firefighters respond to, Kambarian said. In 2015, the fire protection district responded to roughly 2,000 calls. As he helped deliver the meals, Kambarian handed out flyers on how elderly people can avoid falling.

Meals on Wheels delivery drivers check in on an at-risk population. They also sit down to chat and even help with small tasks like taking out the trash. And for people who thrive off social interaction, the service is key.

Take Floy Shaw, a lively 72-year-old Godfrey resident who lives with four relatives and says she’s “never met a stranger.”

When asked what she would eat if she didn’t have the meals delivered to her, she said, “Crackers and butter, probably.”

Jonathan Becker, executive director of Senior Services Plus, said he’s tired of the state’s budget impasse, which has lasted more than eight months. During that time, $1.2 million in unpaid funding from the state has stacked up, Becker said. The agency is taking out loans to pay the bills and paying interest on those loans while it waits for the state.

It’s even more frustrating, he said, because Meals on Wheels helps keep people in their homes rather than having to rely on Medicaid to pay for costly nursing homes. One meal through the Meals on Wheels program costs $8, while the average for a Medicaid patient in a nursing home costs $150 per day, Becker said.

The program’s clients worked for years, paid taxes and built communities, Becker added.

Shaw said she worked at Laclede Steel — now known as Alton Steel — as a supervisor, among other plants in the area. She retired, and now spends time with her family, including 10 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.

Busy as she is, Shaw, like many others dependent on the service, says she always looks forward to seeing the Meals on Wheels delivery driver.

“This has been a wonderful morning,” Shaw told her visitors. “Y’all have made my day.”

Reporter Kelsey Landis can be reached at 618-208-6460, Ext. 1396 or on Twitter @kelseylandis.